The subject matter disclosed herein relates to conveying solids through an outlet pipe, and, more particularly, to conveying solids through an outlet pipe of a pump.
Various industrial processes include the conveying of solids in the presence of fluids, which may be gases or liquids. For example, a coal and biomass mixture may be conveyed through a solids pressurizing feeder in an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant. In systems such as these, the amount of force to convey the solids mixture through the system varies depending on the chemical compositions, moisture content, compressibility, and other variables of the solids mixture. Thus, system components that contribute to the overall force needed by the system to drive the solids mixture might often need to be changed or replaced when a different amount of overall force is needed by the system. Replacing these system components may be difficult, and it may be inefficient and costly to frequently replace such system components.